Remember
by AnimationGirl
Summary: "They once made a rabbit out of stars. Now she was making them out of paper." A one-shot about River's attempts to revive Johnny's memory.


A/N: Hi people! I've now watched To The Moon, and I found it absolutely amazing! I laughed, I cried! So of course I had to write a fanfic about it. But because I have a lot to do and only a little time, this will just be a one-shot. Maybe there'll come more later… We'll see.

Just for your information, I am from Denmark so maybe there are some spelling mistakes. I do my best.

Warning for spoilers: If you haven't seen or played the whole game (or just to the part where River and Johnny meets for the first time), then you should do that before reading this story. You have now been warned for spoilers.

I do not own To The Moon.

**Remember**

She could make them without even looking down now. Her fingers were so used to the movements. In the start it has been hard. So many of them had ended in ended in the trashcan. Some of them were just made wrong, some of them had just become ugly, and some of them had gotten stained with her blood coming from some of the paper cuts she had gotten.

But all those problems were gone now. Each paper bunny around her was perfect. From its paper tail to its paper ears. No flaws. _Perfect_.

Then why didn't they work? She worked so hard on them. But why did they fail? Why did she fail?

Why couldn't he remember?

They were made for him! He was the reason why she was doing this! Then why couldn't he see it? Why couldn't he understand? Why couldn't he remember?

Didn't he want to remember? Or was he simply not able to do it?

For her it still so clear in her memory. Like it was yesterday. But in reality it was so many years ago.

"River?"

Johnny walked into the room, wearing his pajamas. He yawned and rubbed the last sleep out of his eyes. "Why are you up so late? You told me you would go to bed."

She shortly looked up at him, but then returned her focus on the paper bunny she was making.

"One more?"

She folded the paper one more time.

"River…"

She looked it over, trying to find mistakes. When she found none, she put it on the table. The bunny was placed between all the others, making it hard to spot again.

"Won't you come with me back up again?" Johnny asked her. "You can still make them tomorrow."

When she didn't answer, but instead started folding another piece of paper, he picked up one of the rabbits.

"Wouldn't you like to try something different?" he asked her. "Another kind of animal?"

"I like rabbits."

He let out a soundless sigh. "Well, I do too, but…" He trailed off when she looked at him with those begging eyes.

Why couldn't he see it?

* * *

"_Have you… ever made an Easter Bunny out of stars?" she quietly asked the boy beside her. Maybe he loved to find the stories in the stars, just like her. And maybe, he had spotted the pattern too. _

"_Like a constellation?" Johnny asked her. _

_She swung a little with her legs and gave him her simple answer, "Yes." _

"_Uhm, of other things… Never tried a rabbit though," he told her with a warm voice. He was clearly in a good mood. _

_Maybe she could trust him. Maybe he could be a friend. She paused for a moment before asking, "Do you want to make one?" Every year when she went to the festival, she made her way to this place and she would sit on the fallen tree trunk, to stare at the dark sky. She would find the hidden messages in the stars. But maybe this time she wouldn't do it alone. _

_Johnny's face immediately became even brighter. "Yeah, we'll make the bestest constellation ever! Let's see who makes one out first! Okay, we'll start in three." She watched him as he made himself ready, his eyes focused on the sky. "Three, two, one, annnd sta-" _

"_I see it." _

_He looked so surprised. She didn't understand why though."Er… Where?" he asked, utterly confused. But it was so easy to spot. Why hadn't he seen it? _

"_In the sky," she told him. Why would he ask such a funny question? _

"_Uhm, but where in the sky?" Johnny asked again, and she understood that she had to help him a little more. _

"_Think big." _

"_Eh…" He obviously didn't get her. _

_She held in a sigh and tried again. "Bigger than all the others." _

_He paused, despair on his face. Could he really not see it? Had he given up? "I don't know. Wait a minute… Wait a minute!" She waited patiently for him to continue. "I SEE IT!" he exclaimed happily. _

"_Tell me what you see." _

_Johnny pointed towards the sky. "There, right? There're the two ears and head!" _

"_What else?" she asked him. He was right about the head and ears, but could he really not see the most important? _

"_And there… There're its two feet!" _

_Apparently not. But perhaps she just had to help him again. She had to be patient. "Yes. What else?" _

"_And… And the moon!" Johnny yelled, excited. Finally he saw it. "The moon is its big round belly!" They both looked up at the sky, and for a moment it was like the stars that formed the rabbit shined even brighter. _

* * *

Had he really forgotten all that? River had finished the next paper rabbit while her head had been in the old memory. They had been so young at that time. The first time they had met. But it was obviously only her that knew that.

Johnny looked at her with tired eyes. She slowly stood up and walked past him. He put down his rabbit, and followed her. She held in a sigh as she realized that he just had put down the clue. Why couldn't he just look at it? Didn't he see what she was trying to do? Why she was making those rabbits?

They once made a rabbit out of stars.

Now she was making them out of paper.

It was a desperately try of hers, but she couldn't find another way to do it. To tell him. Every time she tried to use words instead, something held her back. The invisible wall that always stopped her when it came to a conversation.

She walked outside, Johnny following her closely. The cold night wind played with her red hair as she made her way to the edge of the cliff. None of them said a word. Below them they could see her beloved lighthouse.

Johnny carefully put a hand on her shoulder. "You can always talk with her tomorrow."

So he thought it was about Anya? No, her lighthouse was fine. Anya wasn't the reason why they were out there.

River let her glance go upwards, towards the big round moon in front of them.

* * *

"_Johnny?!" A strange voice destroyed their moment. She didn't know who it belonged to, but she would guess that it was Johnny's mother. _

_The little boy who was standing on the ground looked visible surprised. "Eek, that's ma calling." So she was right about that. _

_She looked at the funny stuffed animal in her arms. "Here," she said after some seconds. It did belong to him after all. _

_Johnny looked at her for a moment before saying, "You know what… Keep it, it's yours." _

"_Mine?" Why would he give her it? Did he really mean it? _

"_Yeah, I can always get another. I don't like to brag, but I'm totally the best at that game!" He looked so happy that she felt like laughing. _

_But then she remembered that their time together soon was over. Even though she only had known him in a short time, she felt sad about the thought of never seeing him again. "Will you be here next year?" she asked quietly. _

"_Yup. Will you?" _

"_Yes," she told him. A warm feeling spread inside of her as she knew that she would see him again. _

_He sure looked happy too, with his big grin. "Same place, same time?" he asked her. _

"_Yes." _

_As he started to walk away, she jumped down from the tree trunk. He stopped and turned around to look at her when she asked, "What if you forget… or get lost?" _

_Johnny didn't look like he was afraid of that. "Then we can always regroup on the moon, silly!" he told her. "Right on the rabbit's tummy!" _

"_Johnny!" It was that voice again. His mother. _

"_Coming!" He yelled back and started to walk away. But suddenly he stopped again. "Oh yeah, I forgot my hacky sack in the bag. You said you're clumsy, right? Maybe it'll help!" Johnny told her and gave her one last smile before walked back to the festival. _

_After seeing him go, she jumped back on the tree trunk to watch the sky alone. A hollow feeling had hit her when he had left, but still, there was this strange warm feeling that comforted her. _

_As she looked at the moon, she thought about how much she looked forward to the next year. To see him again. _

* * *

"The moon looks beautiful tonight," Johnny said as he followed her glance.

He was right, but he knew that himself. The dark sky was above them with the moon and all the stars decorating it. All the lighthouses in the sky.

As she stood there with her husband, River couldn't help but feel sad. In all the time they had been together, she had thought of him as the little boy she had met at the festival that long time ago. The little boy that had made her feel warm and given her a beloved gift.

He thought of himself as a boy that wanted to be different and started dating the strange girl to be it. Even though he fell in love with her after some time, the main reason of why he started dating was still bugging him.

But she knew that it wasn't true. Some part of him had to remember. It was destiny that they had met again.

That was why she wanted him to remember.

And as they both stood in the light of the moon, the strong desire to tell him the truth became stronger and stronger. But she just couldn't.

But that didn't mean that she wouldn't try.

She reached out her hand and her husband grabbed it immediately. Johnny gave her a smile and then returned his glance back to the moon.

As they stood there, River somehow felt like crying.

But the tears just never came.


End file.
